The Eagles will re-sign free agent linebacker Nigel Bradham to a five-year, $40MM deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Bradham was a key part of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-winning defense a season ago, but given that the Eagles are extremely pressed for cap space, it wasn’t clear if they’d be able to re-sign the 28-year-old linebacker. They’ve somehow made it work, however, and one resulting move will entail the Eagles (once again) placing linebacker Mychal Kendricks and his $5.85MM 2018 salary on the trade block, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A former fourth-round pick, Bradham followed defensive play-caller Jim Schwartz from Buffalo to Philadelphia prior to the 2016 campaign. He’s arguably posted the best two seasons of his career during that time, and graded as the league’s 21st-best linebacker in 2017, according to Pro Football Focus.While playing on nearly 90% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, Bradham posted 61 tackles and one sack.
While the guarantees or structure of Bradham’s new deal have yet to be reported, he’ll now become the 12th-highest-paid off-ball linebacker in terms of annual salary. Given that Eagles’ salary cap problems, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bradham’s pact contains a hefty signing bonus that will be spread across multiple years, while a back-loaded pact also isn’t out of the question.
Heading into free agency, Bradham ranked as PFR’s No. 1 available linebacker and the No. 22 free agent overall.
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good!
Surprised they were able to do this, they wasted 2.25 M on a non-starter LB.
If they trade Kendricks that’ll save them some cap space and give the guy they just signed a chance to start
Exactly, a lot of money to waste on a special teaser when you need to fill starting jobs.
Post-June 1 cut saves 6M to 1.6 Dead.